From The Heart by Sheila O'Flanagan Read Free Book Online

companion’s expression. And then they turned their attention to the charades again. They weren’t doing that well at them. But they were having fun. Which was all that mattered in the end.
    Laura and Jim agreed, as they went to reception to check out the following day, that it had been a fantastic break. Being looked after had been wonderful, and Kirstie had behaved beautifully for the entire time. They also agreed that it had been difficult to get over the guilty feelings, but that there were times when you had to do things that made you feel bad. At least we’ve made a stand, Jim said as the woman at reception, who he knew was also the owner, handed him the bill. It might have cost us a lot of money, but it was important to do it.
    He scanned the bill, knowing that there was very little to add to the rate for their package as he and Laura hadn’t ordered much from the bar, but wanting to make sure it was right anyway.
    ‘That’s all right, Mr Devanney,’ said Claire as he took his credit card out of his wallet. ‘It’s been taken care of.’
    ‘Sorry?’ He looked at her in puzzlement.
    ‘Your bill has been taken care of,’ she said. ‘And I was asked to give you this message.’
    He opened the envelope she handed him and took out the Sugar Loaf Lodge Christmas card inside.
    ‘We hope you have had a very special Christmas,’ he read. ‘We realise that you have to have your own time and your own traditions. We also want to say that we love you both, and Kirstie, very much, and if you want to call into either house on your way home we’d be delighted to see you. Love Angela, Caroline, Fred & Louis.’
    Jim passed the card to Laura, who read it wordlessly.
    ‘You both have lovely families,’ said Claire as she looked at them. ‘And I hope you have many more happy Christmases with them in the future.’
    ‘I’m sure we will.’ Jim cleared his throat. ‘But we can’t let them pay . . .’
    ‘Mrs Devanney and Mrs McIntyre were very insistent.’ Claire smiled at him. ‘I spoke to both of them last night.’
    ‘How the hell did they know we were here?’ Jim wondered aloud. ‘We were keeping it a secret. We were afraid they’d turn up.’
    ‘It’s probably my fault.’ Laura looked apologetically at Jim. ‘I told Celine. Just in case there was an emergency. I suppose my mother managed to worm it out of her.’
    ‘Probably,’ agreed Jim.
    ‘But they didn’t turn up,’ said Laura. ‘And they worked this out between them.’
    ‘Christmas can be a stressful time,’ said Claire. ‘But you’ve all clearly come through it. And who knows what you’ll do next year.’
    ‘Who knows.’ Jim smiled and put his arm around Laura. ‘Maybe we’ll all come here!’
    ‘We’d love that,’ Claire said.
    ‘So would we,’ said Jim. ‘But I have a feeling that we’ll be having it at home. And maybe, next year, that’ll be just fine.’

Anniversary
    This wasn’t where I’d intended to be the week before Christmas. It certainly wasn’t where I’d intended to be on my wedding anniversary. I’d already made plans for that, and it knocked me back when they were thrown into complete disarray by the twins. I’d guessed that there was something going on, but to be honest, I’d thought it was Christmas-related. The twins like Christmas, they always have. Maybe it was something to do with the two of them ratcheting up each other’s excitement over the thoughts of Santa Claus and a tree piled with presents and the whole thing. Or maybe they were just particularly sweet-natured and gullible children who turned into sweet-natured if not (fortunately) particularly gullible adults. But for them, Christmas was always a wondrous time.
    For me . . . well, I reckon when you’ve seen forty-four Christmases, you’ve seen them all. There is, I guess, a certain feeling of nostalgia that comes over you when you take the decorations out of the attic where they’ve gathered dust for all of the previous year; you